The National Weather Service (NWS) in San Francisco has issued a Dense Fog Advisory through 10 AM for the North Bay Interior Valleys, so you might want to leave extra time for your morning commute and use those low beams. Fog's not the only concern, though, as beaches along the Pacific Coast are on alert from 8 PM Friday through 11 PM Saturday for sneaker waves and rip currents due to a long-period northwesterly swell, per the NWS in San Francisco.
Besides the dense mist, we're expecting a bit of a warm-up. According to an Area Forecast Discussion by NWS San Francisco, "Warming and drying trend through Saturday with some offshore winds in the higher elevations," will grace the region. Daytime highs are set to climb from the mid-70s in the valleys to the upper 60s along the coast, which is pretty much the seasonal spot-on. Just be aware, if you're tucked away in the North Bay valleys, there's a 10-20% probability of morning fog rolling in, so you might get engulfed without much notice.
Looking ahead, the mercury will keep rising over the weekend, with some inland spots hitting the lower 80s, though don't expect it to last too long. A touch of coolness is set to return next week, and by the time Friday rolls around, the possibility of rain makes an entrance again. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has put a moderate risk (40-60% probability) of some serious rain hitting the North Bay from the 24th to the 27th, but let's be real, those are still predictions in the fickle world of weather forecasting. The NWS San Francisco clarifies: "Any discussion of rainfall totals thus falls into the head-in-the-clouds fantasy land where any model output should be considered highly fallible at best."
Moderate to strong northerly winds continue to whip across the waters, and a fresh swell is rolling this weekend that could churn up waves between 7 and 10 feet at 15 seconds. "Northerly winds should become fresh to strong late Sunday into Monday, with near gale force gusts expected for the outer waters north of Point Pinos," as NWS San Francisco reports.
